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It is impossible to shut out all news to avoid children seeing it. From friends’ phones at school to running news on TV in a café, they will be seeing it.

Avoiding any contact with the news, Winston’s Wish says, is not giving children a chance to ask questions and make sense of what is happening.

The best approach is to be open and to explain it as simply as possible, based on the child’s age.

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Be honest

While is it not an exact script, the charity mapped out a way to talk to children about it using simple explanations such as “All this news is because something very bad and very sad happened. It is very unusual that something like this happens. Everyone who has heard the news is very sad and worried."

Explain who

“Children find the idea of bad people particularly frightening. Children are also very fair-minded and will want reassurance that the person who did this has been caught,” says Winston’s Wish.

Explain why

The best thing is to be honest. Say we know it wasn’t an accident, but no-one can really understand why someone would do this.

You can find more on how to deal with children's reactions to the news on the Winston's Wish page .